Navy taps Raytheon for Phalanx close-in-weapon system support

Feb. 27 (UPI) -- Raytheon has been awarded a contract for logistic support for the Navy's Phalanx close-in-weapon system.

The deal, announced Monday by the Department of Defense, is valued at more than $48 million under a previous modified contract.

The modified contract will furnish "repaired and new units for 1,041 line items under prescribed performance metrics in response to Fleet requisitions," the Defense Department said in a press release.

The agreement between Raytheon and the Navy is classified as an "undefinitized contractual action for performance-based logistics support," for the the Phalanx Close-In weapon system. The weapon is a rapid-fire, computer-controlled, radar-guided gun designed to defeat incoming anti-ship missiles and other close-in threats on land and at sea, according to Raytheon.

The Phalanx Close-In weapon system is a last line of defense system for naval surface warfare ships. The Pentagon says the weapon system is a "fast-reaction terminal defense against low and high-flying, high-speed maneuvering anti-ship ballistic missile threats that have penetrated all other defenses."

Work on the contract will occur in Louisville, Ky., and is expected to be complete by August 2019.

More than $23.5 million will be obligated to Raytheon at the time of award from Navy fiscal 2018 working capital funds, and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.